"Let me add, that it is the great desideratum, by which this form of Government can be rescued from the opprobrium under which it has so long labored, and be recommended to the esteem and adoption of mankind." Federalist 10, James Madison

Should you wish to read about a history of reactionary intimidation and political violence in the Pacific Northwest and Whatcom County, I would recommend this bibliography:

“The War Against the Greens” David Helvarg 1994, 1997, 2004
“In God's Country: The Patriot Movement and the Pacific Northwest” David A. Neiwert 1999
“The Politics of Righteousness: Idaho Christian Patriotism” James A. Aho 1990
“Brotherhood of Murder” Thomas Martinez with John Guinther 1988
“Blind Spots: A Citizen's Memoir” Jay Thomas Taber 2003
or anything you can get a hold of by journalists Paul deArmond and/or Cathy Logg.

These websites below contain excellent historical information on the political 'reign of terror' that reactionary groups inflicted upon Whatcom County environmentalists, reformers, and activists during the mid 1990s:

"Vast forests have already been sacrificed to the public debate about the Tea Party: what it is, what it means, where it's going. But after lengthy study of the phenomenon, I've concluded that the whole miserable narrative boils down to one stark fact: They're full of shit. All of them. At the voter level, the Tea Party is a movement that purports to be furious about government spending — only the reality is that the vast majority of its members are former Bush supporters who yawned through two terms of record deficits and spent the past two electoral cycles frothing not about spending but about John Kerry's medals and Barack Obama's Sixties associations."